Giving Dev/Publisher feedback...anyone else do this?

I make it a point to try to contact developers to let them know when I really enjoy a game -- especially one that gets a bad/mediocre review or no coverage at all. I also do it to publishers to express my desire for sequels to games I enjoy or request localisation for Japanese titles.

Sometimes this takes some effort as the majority of developers and publishers seem to not want any feedback from customers having no kind of feedback submission form: only being focused on getting mail for product support. Midway is the only company I can think of that has a feedback form and they also respond within a matter of hours -- you do have to register an account, however.

I've had direct response from an individual in a development house once (Farsight Studios) or from PR people (Eidos, Sunsoft). Most of the time it might fall on deaf ears or go into a mailbox that never gets checked, but I still think it's worthwhile to let people know directly that you liked their game and give some constructive feedback. I know I like hearing thanks, etc. from the customers on my job.

Anyone else go through the effort to make direct contact and express an opinion (hopefully constructive/positive -- I don't see the point in telling someone their game sucks, frankly)?

No but I sometimes want to. Like when ass creed was being slammed and I thought it was one of the beat games I'd played I wanted to email them. But then I remenbwree that it wasn't exactly a small studio and it sold pretty well so I didn't bother.

mowgli wrote:
No but I sometimes want to. Like when ass creed was being slammed and I thought it was one of the beat games I'd played I wanted to email them. But then I remenbwree that it wasn't exactly a small studio and it sold pretty well so I didn't bother.

They probably agreed with the reviewers deep down so you'd have looked like a suck-ass.

Oh and RetroJB is right. The whole developer rockstar bollocks is tiring because 90% of the time they're boring assholes who stare at computer screens all day masturbating to Hentai whilst the talent does the work.

RetroJB wrote:
No. There's already this pretentious air of 'I'm a celeberity' from many developers who feel their projects are above mere criticisms, (Alex Ward, Denis Dyack to name but two), so why fuel it?

I've wrote once or twice. Once to request widescreen support in BF2142 (got a response the next day \o/) and once to let take 2 know that Irrational had a loyal following and branding them 2K boston/australia has ruined their pedigree, which didn't get a response

As a dev it's actually really nice to get stuff like this, doesn't happen often but when you get a genuinely heartfelt letter saying how much someone really enjoyed your game, it's really flattering. Reviews aren't quite the same really, they're trying to explain the good and the bad and they're rarely as heartfelt.

That said, it cuts both ways - I'll never forget the letter we got about Haze that just had the words 'EPIC FAIL' printed in giant red letters in the middle of the page.

I like Square who put a little card in their games asking for feedback. They also have a link to a website to do just the same. I did so for Crisis Core and let them know that I adore the game more than I should admit in public.

disc wrote:Reading how a disabled kid is playing the game and loving it because it isn't using a standard controller for example.

Is this some kind of veiled insult?

I also write to make requests. For example I make it a point to write Midway every quarter asking for yet another version of Midway Arcade Treasures for the Wii (with a PAL release this time!). I get told it will be sent to the right people.

I wrote Factor9 about both Monster Lab and the Godzilla/Rampage games to their respective devs (Factor9 is some kind of umbrella corp or something?), but no clue if they got to them or not.

For Farsight I couldn't find anything on their site so I just tried support@theirdomain.com and it ended up getting routed to the team lead for Gottlieb Pinball Classics. I've been bugging the guy ever since, so I guess answering was a mistake on his part.

Also, glad to see some actual developer response in this thread. What's the deal with publishers/developers (or really any company) that don't have an email address for feedback? Or developers/publishers that cannot be bothered to update their websites (I'm thinking of System 3, here)?

disc wrote:Reading how a disabled kid is playing the game and loving it because it isn't using a standard controller for example.

Is this some kind of veiled insult?

I think disc is refering to that story about that kid who was bed ridden, got a controller made that he could play games on even though he was so handicapped, he could hardly move. I'm not sure he meant it as an insult to anyone though.